Former President Donald Trump said he’s considering not participating in the upcoming ABC News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris after the network conducted a “biased” interview with Republican Sen. Tom Cotton.
The former president took aim at ABC News in a Truth Social post late Sunday, criticizing a panel on the Sunday Edition of “This Week” and co-anchor Jon Karl’s interview with the Arkansas senator.
“I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl’s(K?) ridiculous and biased interview of Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?” Trump wrote.
In the heated interview, Karl pressed Cotton on Trump’s recent remarks referring to the Medal of Freedom as “equivalent” or “much better” than the Medal of Honor, which is the nation’s highest military award for bravery in combat.
“Jon, you’re totally taking that out of context. Donald Trump was great for our military. He is great for our veterans,” Cotton retorted.
Trump continued his rant, hinting at other issues with the network and referencing a scandal with ABC News contributor Donna Brazile, where she allegedly leaked debate questions to Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the 2016 election.
“Will panelist Donna Brazil give the questions to the Marxist Candidate like she did for Crooked Hillary Clinton? Will Kamala’s best friend, who heads up ABC, do likewise. Where is Liddle’ George Slopadopolus hanging out now? Will he be involved?” Trump wrote, referring to George Stephanopoulos, the main host of “This Week.”
Trump continued to raise suspicions about Harris’ choice to have ABC News host the debate before considering other major networks, such as Trump’s preference of Fox News.
“They’ve got a lot of questions to answer!!!” Trump wrote. “Why did Harris turn down Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN? Stay tuned!!!” he wrote.
Despite reservations, Trump agreed to the ABC News debate when President Biden was still in the race.
Trump had again cast doubts about his debate participation when Harris replaced Biden on the presidential ticket.
The ABC News debate between Trump and Harris is scheduled for September 10.